What does a perfect day look like for you?

I don't know about you, but I dream of days like this:

• Waking up early (and rested) and enjoying a Starbucks hot chocolate or Peppermint Mocha out on the patio while enjoy some quite time with God in the crisp morning air
• Getting all of my laundry done, sheets washed, home cleaned and everything left in order
• Going for a long drive or bike ride with no destination or time constraint
• Enjoy a nice lunch on a patio where I can journal and soak up everything around me
• Go for a mani/pedi/full body massage
• Visit the Arboretum where I can walk around in solitude, curl up on a blanket with a good book, and photograph God's beautiful creation
• Meet up with my favorite girlfriends for a night of dinner and dancing
• Soak in a long, hot bubble bath with a glass of wine
• Curl up on the couch with one of my favorite chick flick movies until I can barely keep my eyes open
• Crawl into my bed between clean sheets and drift off into dreamland

Sounds pretty dreamy, huh?

Write much???

So Luci Swindoll and I have become great friends! She doesn't know this, but if I could stalk her down, I would force her be my friend. I have been reading through her book "Doing Life Differently" for the past month as part of my quiet time each day and she has begun to feel like a best friend. Her stories make me laugh and cry and I always walk away encouraged. Isn't that what friends are for. I'm going to be really sad when her book ends.

I think one of the reasons I like her so much is that we are so very alike, even though we are separated by 46 years of age. We are both stubborn and independent. Share a huge passion for music and the arts. Love travel and photography. And we are both writers. In yesterday's reading, she was encouraging me to write everything down. After all, the older you get, the less you remember. Fortunately, I have been recording my life for the past 18 years. I literally went through my bookcase last night and pulled out all of the journals I have written in. I'm pretty sure some of them are still in hiding, but they made for a fun picture, right?

I haven't actually found the time to sit down and read back through them yet. Maybe someday soon. It's always fun to see how far you've come, the lessons you've learned, and the lessons you are still learning. And who knows? Maybe someday my adolescent thoughts and words will be able to encourage my daughter or neice.

Launch Retreat

This past weekend was completely amazing! I have been to the Launch Retreat with the young adults from Watermark before, but I had no idea what a blessing I was in for when I showed up at Sky Ranch on Friday afternoon. This place is so beautiful and serene and I can't wait to go back in October for the CR leadership retreat.

Launch 2010 was the biggest retreat we have had to date. Over 500 young people showed up on Saturday morning and the rest is history! I met so many wonderful people and have never had so much fun serving. Afshin Ziafat was our speaker, and getting to see him and his wife was a special mini-reunion for me. I met Meredith when I moved to Dallas 10 years ago. We were both involved in a group called Graceplace and it was so fun getting to hear their story and where God has brought them over the past 10 years. Afshin was raised Muslim, accepted Christ as a teenager, was disowned from his family, and is now a full-time evangelist. To learn more about his story, check it out here: http://www.afshinziafat.com/. Be prepared to be blessed!

He challenged us throughout the weekend to put our "all" on the altar (referencing Abraham having to sacrifice Isaac), and to live out the calling that God has given each of us. As J.P. said over and over, "so you are a Christian...so what?" What are we doing with our faith?

I was also blessed to be able to lead the greatest team ever with my co-leader Jason. Not only did we seriously kick some butt during the challenges ( 5 of 5 baby!), but everyone was so open and authentic and I loved getting to share life with them.

More than anything, this weekend was a reminder that it's not about me. Whether I was unloading a billion cases of water, making countless team signs, signing people in, or leading a small group, it was all for HIM. Although I was completely exhausted and utterly used up, I have never been filled with so much joy!

to be a child...

This past weekend was so refreshing. I always love going home. It's not just getting away from Dallas, it's getting away from the busyness of life, the traffic, the demands of friends/my job/life. Home has always been like a cocoon for me. It's a safe place where I can go without makeup, dress like a hobo, where purple fingernail polish that my family hates, cry about my disappointments, and feel unconditional love. And this weekend was extra special because I got to spend some quality time with my two favorite little people.

This is NOT a flattering picture, but was one of my favorite parts of the weekend. I got to babysit Anslee on Saturday morning and the two of us chilled in the hammock for half an hour while I sang to her. Notice those big blue eyes! (I'd like to think she got them from me) :)

And then I got to spend the afternoon with this monkey. We had so much fun playing on his new swingset, chasing butterflies, and jumping around in the water sprinkler. When I'm too old to behave like this anymore, I hope Mason will look back and remember how crazy and fun his Aunt Jaime was with him.

La Vida Loca

What can I say? A lot has happened over the past few weeks. Let's see, two weekends ago, I went to this beautiful place...

And watched a lot of this...

And drank a lot of these...

Yep, I went to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico with some of my favorite girlfriends. This was trip #2 with my friend Lilly and I was so glad she was there, as she was the only one who spoke fluent Spanish.
THE GOODS: we went snorkeling, played on the beach, had the BEST massages of our lives, laid out by the pool, held iguanas, ate lots of yummy food, drank even yummier drinks, and just enjoyed the down time.

THE BADS: Let's just say I'm a walking liability! I was motion sick for the majority of the trip thanks to the crazy cab drivers and the winding roads. Had a shell inbed itself into my foot the first day and Lilly performed emergency surgery to dig it out. Got stung by a jellyfish on our snorkeling trip. Lilly had an allergic reaction to some shrimp and had bumps all over her. Oh, and Jennifer and I managed to fry ourselves to the point that we resembled the local lobster. And to save the best for last...after returning from Mexico, all of these lovely bites started showing up all over my body that itch like mad. The verdict is still out on exactly what they are...I'm hoping it's not some parasite that has take up shop in my body.

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After all of that drama, I was more than happy to get back to my crazy life in Dallas. Last Thursday I got to have a lovely biopsy of my cervix, due to some nasty little squamos cells that showed up on some recent tests. Very interesting procedure that I got to watch. Nothing better than having your insides magnified 30x and shown on a TV. Don't worry...I won't be posting any pictures from this little episode. :)

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This past weekend was spent with my sister-in-law and some of the ladies from her church at the Women of Faith conference here in Dallas. Honestly, I went into it exhausted. I hadn't had a day off to recover since my trip from Mexico and was questioning why I ever agreed to go. But God knew I needed to be there and needed the fellowship with other ladies who were seeking Him. The main theme of the weekend, or at least what seemed to keep glaring at me, was the idea of trust. In order to have a real relationship with God, we have to not only love him, but trust him.

This has been something I've always struggled with. I believe God loves me. I know He is good. But how can a good God allow such horrible things to happen to those that He loves. My question for so long has been: how can I trust someone who has allowed so much hurt in my own life? The answer is simple. Because He is God. He knows what is best for me. He is the one who works all things to the good of those who love Him. He never promised that our lives would be easy, without pain, without struggle. He simply says that if we trust in Him, He will sustain us, He will never leave us, He will love us. And that's enough for me. In hindsight, I can clearly see how he was allowing these hardships to strengthen me and build me up. I've spend a lot of uncomfortable hours/days/years over His refining fires. He's still molding me and teaching me what it looks like to love him and trust him.

I bought a few books at the conference this weekend and can't wait to dig in - especially one by Luci Swindoll titled "Doing Life Differently". She is one of those women that amazes me. She's 77 and not once in her life did she desire to get married or have children. She bucked the trend! She simply decided to dream big and do everything she wanted. Her book is all about living in the present and making the most of every second we have. She made a comment this weekend that has been lurking in the back of my mind ever since and will not go away: we need to stop WANTING and start BEING. The more I pine over the past or long for the future, the more of my present I allow to pass me by. So, I'm taking her challenge to start doing life differently.

New FAV song of the moment!

Tenth Avenue North has done it again. They've managed to put out a song that could have been dictated straight from my heart. Praise God that His light meets our dark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8m0Z-JcPqEA

So you thought you had to keep this up
All the work that you do
So we think that you're good
And you can't believe it's not enough
All the walls you built up
Are just glass on the outside

So let 'em fall down
There's freedom waiting in the sound
When you let your walls fall to the ground
We're here now

This is where the healing begins, oh
This is where the healing starts
When you come to where you're broken within
The light meets the dark
The light meets the dark

Afraid to let your secrets out
Everything that you hide
Can come crashing through the door now
But too scared to face all your fear
So you hide but you find
That the shame won't disappear

So let it fall down
There's freedom waiting in the sound
When you let your walls fall to the ground
We're here now
We're here now, oh

This is where the healing begins, oh
This is where the healing starts
When you come to where you're broken within
The light meets the dark
The light meets the dark

Sparks will fly as grace collides
With the dark inside of us
So please don't fight
This coming light
Let this blood come cover us
His blood can cover us

This is where the healing begins, oh
This is where the healing starts
When you come to where you're broken within
The light meets the dark
The light meets the dark

The NEW online dating!

Okay, I have to admit...I'm just a little excited about this. After being let down by Match.com, Eharmony, Plentyoffish, Datetallmen, and Zoosk, this idea just seems brilliant! I'm just wondering how I didn't come up with this first! Imagine receiving one of these cute little cards:

This website is awesome! You go online and create a profile, pay a small monthly fee for them to host your profile, and voila...you receive a fun little collection of these cards to hand out at your
discretion. The rest is left up to the unsuspecting person who receives it. If they go to the website and enter your code, they will be able to view your profile and email you. So the key here is: NO REJECTION! (At least not in person) I.L.O.V.E.T.H.I.S!!!!!

I don't know how many times I've been in Barnes & Noble, Starbucks, or just sitting out on a patio somewhere and noticed someone who sparked my interest. Of course, I'm way too shy to just approach that person and strike up a conversation. [Insert card here] So how easy is it to slip by their table and simply drop off a card with a smile? I'm betting curiosity will get the best of them!